January 31 (A Double For Most...A Triple For Me)

1915 - Germans staged the first poison gas attack in battle - against the Russians:  WWI.

Is anyone surprised the Germans were the first to use gas as a weapon? They perfected it as a killing mechanism, though not a battlefield weapon, with the creation and use of Zyclon B in the next great war.

1940 - The first U.S. Social Security check was issued. The check was for $22.54, issued to Ida Fuller of Brattlesboro, Vermont. Her check number was 00-000-001.

The ‘National Noose’ was put around the neck of  every American with this first check...Each additional one simply tightens it up. Who knows which one will squeeze so tight the head falls off?

Those who die before this date will have been lucky...Those who live till this date will witness a national catastrophe.

1970 - Melissa Karlin was born.

Happy Birthday, Melissa...I'm sure this means nothing to most, but it is a great day for me.

I love my children and family, have a solid job and a pretty good life, but two events have defined my adult life:  Basic Training and meeting Melissa.

Thank you for two decades of marriage, being a great mother, my best friend, and keeping me around regardless of my many, many faults.

I love you!

1865 - General Robert E. Lee was named General-in-Chief of all the Confederate Armies.

Too little, too late...I hope you didn't think Lee was the overall Confederate commander before this time. He had been Commander of the Army of Virginia, but not the entire Confederate force - by this time it didn't matter.

1865 - The U.S. House of Representatives approved a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery:  U.S. Civil War.

Like every protracted war, the original war aim (keeping the Union together) changed...It became a war to end slavery, but in no way was this President Lincoln's reason for going to war.

1917 - Germany served notice it was beginning a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare:  WWI.

So much for the concept of ‘civilized’ warfare...It was a policy which brought the U.S. into the war, but one the Germans felt compelled to try.

1945 - Private Eddie Slovik became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion:  WWII.

Desertion should be a capital offense. Draft dodging and subversion during a time of war should be as well.

1950 - President Truman announced he ordered the development of the hydrogen bomb. Truman said, "A leader has to lead, or otherwise he has no business in politics.''

Absolutely correct Harry.

1958 - The United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit: 'Explorer One.'

Sure the Ruskies beat us to the punch with Sputnik, but Explorer 1 eventually led the U.S. towards the Moon, and the economic destruction of the USSR.

Explorer 1 also discovered the 'Van Allen radiation belts,' which was something the Soviets would never have discovered because their goal wasn’t to learn, it was to get a satellite up...Just another of the million differences between the Soviet Union and the U.S.